As sure as the sun rises every morning, all human beings will go through a season of spiritual drought. One of the causes maybe attributed to sufferings which we experience in life.
In our desperate moments, our hope should not be based on a thought that our situation will turn out in a certain way, or that God will give us exactly what we want, but rather God will always do what’s best for us. We can always remind ourselves that it is a living hope in a Savior who loves us, not on an outcome we feel entitled to. We need to trust that God wouldn’t allow anything that isn’t best for us, and that everything in our lives is put there for our own good.
As written in Romans 8:28: ”And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
God’s love has been poured out to us and all of Scripture proclaims that love. The cross displays it and the Holy Spirit seals it. But if we do not trust God and believe that He loves us, we will not see how every suffering could be good.
Maybe you are suffering right now, it is painful; it certainly doesn’t feel good. We can walk away before we get to see the end: experiencing the hardest part of my trials without ever getting to the good part. You may not see anything to rejoice and your suffering might seem pointless. Yet our hope can be placed in a God who loves us. God shapes us through our trials. This is because the deepest trials make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. The more we endure with Christ and find him sufficient, the stronger our faith becomes.
Our suffering produces endurance which refines our character. Suffering softens our rough edges, makes us less judgmental, and helps us value people over things. It forces us to focus on what’s important in life. Remember all our sufferings can be opportunities for growth. Therefore, we can rejoice in our sufferings, knowing God is using them to produce in us what we could not produce in ourselves. Surely, our faith becomes stronger, our character becomes more like Christ’s and our hope becomes more secure.
In Christ,
Ptra. Mhel Perez
